Go to Start/Programs/Startup and see if there's anything in that folder. There's things you can really skip loading at startup like:
--FindFast
--Microsoft Office taskbar
--Instant Messenger apps
--Graphics card GUIs
--Fancy Printer control panels
etc.
Another thing that is a total time hog is the number of Fonts you have installed in your Windows/Fonts folder. Every single frickin' font in there gets enumerated at startup, so if there's a bunch in there you hardly ever use, move them to a holding folder and reinstall them when you need them.
There are programs on the net that can help you with eliminating startup hassles like MagicTweak.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
Rafael - what are you using 98 or XP? I am adept at this issue. There are many variables, not all Microsofts fault.
My goal these days on a powerfuls system is a 30 seconnd reboot. It is available! That means from the time you click on Restart to the time you are back logged on, ready to open a program.
Currently I have mine down to about 45 seconds but that is due to the tons of stuff I am using such as a TV card.
Let me know which OS. The starting point is what Zixar said. Get rid of everything in your Startup menu.
And disable the snnoying default preference in AIM which says "Start AIM when my computer starts" Damn AOL for their invasiveness. They are one of the worst. MSN Messesnger runs a close second. We are the victims of their stupid Messenger war.
More startup tips to come.
John R.
PS also let me know which Model and Make video card you have and what kind of mouse as well.
Zone Alarm and Norton Antivirus are notorious for causing slow start-ups. Remember these systems have monitor everything the computer is doing. So when they load, they basically have get into everything that is running currently.
Not much that can be done though. I have Win2K and mine starts slow. However, I am also using a 40Gig Hard drive that I pulled out of an older computer. It is a slower hard drive than the 20Gig I have.
When I had it as the boot drive, the start up was really fast. The hard drives nowadays are even faster, so you might want to consider that option. Make it your bootable drive and use the other one as file storage. Obviously, I would rather use the 40Gig as my main one. :D-->
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood"..........but hey, I love to see a good Clothesline once in a while
If you want to make ZA an option, there's always XP's built in ICF, or Internet Connection Firewall. It was, however, written by Microsoft...take that as you may.
If you have an external cable modem or DSL modem that connects to your computer via Ethernet cable, go down to Best Buy and get a Linksys router for about $60. It doesn't matter if you only have one computer hooked up to it, other computers on the Internet can only see the router, not your computer. Most of our friends got hit with the MsBlaster but all of our computers were safe behind the router's firewall. You may have to tweak it to spoof your computer's MAC address since broadband companies usually lock an account to one specific network adapter's MAC address.
If your broadband adapter only hooks up via USB, though, a software solution is your only option, unless you purchase another cable/DSL Ethernet modem.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
Oh, another thing. Disable the Indexing Service in XP unless you frequently have to search your whole hard drive for files. Letting the search run longer when you need it is better than having the Indexing Service constantly sucking at your CPU and hard drive.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
When doing tests on start up speed, be sure to have a watch or clock nearby so you can write down the speeds to compare differences.
Once again Zixar's advice is good. Ditch (uninstall) Zone Alarm and go out and purchase a router which has built in firewall protection. FIrewall protection is built into the device itself so that responsibility is taken away from your computer resources. No more starting up with your computer either. Try uninstalling Zone Alarm and see if it makes any difference in your computer start up time.
Now concerning Services. Go to Start / Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services.
Open up your services, At the bottom, select the tab that says Standard. (it is easier to view). The list is alphabetical.
Look for one called Messenger. Stop that service!! Put the startup type on disable, not manual. Be sure to Stop this service.
Look for one called NVidia Driver helper service. Stop that service!! Put the startup type on disable, not manual. Be sure to Stop this service.
You will have less popups by disabling and stopping Messenger.
Your computer will definitely start faster by disabling the buggy NVidia thing which seems to serve no practical purpose anyway.
If you have NVidia Driver helper service listed that means you have a graphics card based on the popular Nvidia chipset.
Right click on the desktop area. Click on properties, select the Settings Tab at the top, click on the Advanced button at the bottom. (While here make sure your monitor refresh rate is set to 75 not 60. It is much easier on the eyes.) Look for a tab at the top that indicates what kind of graphics card you have. For example mine says GeForce4 Ti4800 SE
You can also go to Device Manager to find out what brand products you have.
Let me know if this is helpful. More to come.
John R.
PS - if you ever install newer or updated drivers for your Nvidia based card, even if it is through Windows Updates, you will have to disable the Driver Helper Service again. NVidia sneaks in there and turns that service back on again even if it is on disabled! Curse them!
[This message was edited by igotout on August 28, 2003 at 22:58.]
I would keep the Zone Alarm. If you have accidentally installed any adware or spyware or malware that tries to call home it will stop it. If you have a newer version or the newer pro version it doesn't add that much time. My XP starts in about 45 seconds with Norton Antivirus and Zone Alarm Pro but minimal processes or services other than that.
A list of services and what they do is here ~ http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm ~ be careful and back up the registry first before you tinker with any of those ~ and if you don't feel comfortable about it leave it alone or let an expert do it. I have about half of them disabled or set to manual and my machine is much faster without them. You can definitely live without the UPnP, for instance.
Windows messenger ~ not MSN messenger ~ likes to take up resources. If you don't use it at all and want to get rid of it forever ~ uninstalling it just hides it rather than gets rid of it ~ go to Start>Run and cut and paste this line in:
I always tell people to run AdAware and Spybot if they have been installing things off the internet. It's not highly likely but they often find things that slowed their start time down that they didn't know they had.
Thanks for those tips, Flay. I have a few of my own opinions to follow if I may.
Do not disable UPnP if you are on a network or if you are sharing printers.
It does not take and expert to mess with Services because they can be turned on and off at will. But it may take an expert to mess with the Registry.
I do NOT recommend uninstalling a Service. Why do that? If it is stopped and on disabled or manual it is ineffective anyway, not working.
I do not recommend setting a service to disabled except with probelmatic ones like Nvidia Driver helper service and Messenger. If you set a Service on disabled it will NEVER start. Yet you might need that Service some day for another application or change of your environment. If it is turned off but on MANUAL it is like saying it is on stanby and ready if it is ever needed again.
You know, once I got the AIM turned off, startup has been a lot easier. I kept Zone Alarm, but I haven't even revisited this thread to implement some of these neat ideas. I'll try a few tonight.
Just turning off AIM from starting up when the computer starts should not have had very much of an effect in boot up time unless you are on dial up. Are you using 56k dial up connection to the internet or are you on broadband always on connection?
You can safely disable UPnP--and should--even if you do have network printers. Universal Plug-N-Play is a big open door to hackers and should not have been implemented this way.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
You might not have the NVidia help driver loaded, that's perfectly acceptable.
The refresh rate is how fast your screen repaints itself.
What happens is that your screen gets repainted one line at a time. The higher the frequency, the faster it gets repainted. 74 hertz means that your screen gets repainted 74 times per second.
If you have a real slow refresh rate, then you will see your screen sort of "blinking" - not really blinking, but not a clear, steady picture, either.
Recommended Posts
Zixar
Go to Start/Programs/Startup and see if there's anything in that folder. There's things you can really skip loading at startup like:
--FindFast
--Microsoft Office taskbar
--Instant Messenger apps
--Graphics card GUIs
--Fancy Printer control panels
etc.
Another thing that is a total time hog is the number of Fonts you have installed in your Windows/Fonts folder. Every single frickin' font in there gets enumerated at startup, so if there's a bunch in there you hardly ever use, move them to a holding folder and reinstall them when you need them.
There are programs on the net that can help you with eliminating startup hassles like MagicTweak.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
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Raf
Di I have to create a holding folder?
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Zixar
Yep. You can just call it "Spare Fonts" or somesuch.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
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Raf
This isn't it. There has to be something else.
AIM starts up whenever I turn on my computer, but it's not on the list of those programs. It's got to be something else.
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igotout
Rafael - what are you using 98 or XP? I am adept at this issue. There are many variables, not all Microsofts fault.
My goal these days on a powerfuls system is a 30 seconnd reboot. It is available! That means from the time you click on Restart to the time you are back logged on, ready to open a program.
Currently I have mine down to about 45 seconds but that is due to the tons of stuff I am using such as a TV card.
Let me know which OS. The starting point is what Zixar said. Get rid of everything in your Startup menu.
And disable the snnoying default preference in AIM which says "Start AIM when my computer starts" Damn AOL for their invasiveness. They are one of the worst. MSN Messesnger runs a close second. We are the victims of their stupid Messenger war.
More startup tips to come.
John R.
PS also let me know which Model and Make video card you have and what kind of mouse as well.
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Raf
I'm using XP.
It was hard to find that AIM command, but I did find it.
I'll keep Zone Alarm up at startup, since I actually want that up all the time (it's a firewall, for anyone lurking).
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Raf
As for the video card and mouse...
??????
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Mister P-Mosh
ZoneAlarm is great for what it does, but it is INSANELY slow.
Anyway, check out http://www.tweak3d.net/tweak/winstartupnew/
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WrestlenotAgainst
Zone Alarm and Norton Antivirus are notorious for causing slow start-ups. Remember these systems have monitor everything the computer is doing. So when they load, they basically have get into everything that is running currently.
Not much that can be done though. I have Win2K and mine starts slow. However, I am also using a 40Gig Hard drive that I pulled out of an older computer. It is a slower hard drive than the 20Gig I have.
When I had it as the boot drive, the start up was really fast. The hard drives nowadays are even faster, so you might want to consider that option. Make it your bootable drive and use the other one as file storage. Obviously, I would rather use the 40Gig as my main one.
:D-->
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood"..........but hey, I love to see a good Clothesline once in a while
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Zixar
If you want to make ZA an option, there's always XP's built in ICF, or Internet Connection Firewall. It was, however, written by Microsoft...take that as you may.
If you have an external cable modem or DSL modem that connects to your computer via Ethernet cable, go down to Best Buy and get a Linksys router for about $60. It doesn't matter if you only have one computer hooked up to it, other computers on the Internet can only see the router, not your computer. Most of our friends got hit with the MsBlaster but all of our computers were safe behind the router's firewall. You may have to tweak it to spoof your computer's MAC address since broadband companies usually lock an account to one specific network adapter's MAC address.
If your broadband adapter only hooks up via USB, though, a software solution is your only option, unless you purchase another cable/DSL Ethernet modem.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
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Zixar
Oh, another thing. Disable the Indexing Service in XP unless you frequently have to search your whole hard drive for files. Letting the search run longer when you need it is better than having the Indexing Service constantly sucking at your CPU and hard drive.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
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igotout
When doing tests on start up speed, be sure to have a watch or clock nearby so you can write down the speeds to compare differences.
Once again Zixar's advice is good. Ditch (uninstall) Zone Alarm and go out and purchase a router which has built in firewall protection. FIrewall protection is built into the device itself so that responsibility is taken away from your computer resources. No more starting up with your computer either. Try uninstalling Zone Alarm and see if it makes any difference in your computer start up time.
Now concerning Services. Go to Start / Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services.
Open up your services, At the bottom, select the tab that says Standard. (it is easier to view). The list is alphabetical.
Look for one called Messenger. Stop that service!! Put the startup type on disable, not manual. Be sure to Stop this service.
Look for one called NVidia Driver helper service. Stop that service!! Put the startup type on disable, not manual. Be sure to Stop this service.
You will have less popups by disabling and stopping Messenger.
Your computer will definitely start faster by disabling the buggy NVidia thing which seems to serve no practical purpose anyway.
If you have NVidia Driver helper service listed that means you have a graphics card based on the popular Nvidia chipset.
Right click on the desktop area. Click on properties, select the Settings Tab at the top, click on the Advanced button at the bottom. (While here make sure your monitor refresh rate is set to 75 not 60. It is much easier on the eyes.) Look for a tab at the top that indicates what kind of graphics card you have. For example mine says GeForce4 Ti4800 SE
You can also go to Device Manager to find out what brand products you have.
Let me know if this is helpful. More to come.
John R.
PS - if you ever install newer or updated drivers for your Nvidia based card, even if it is through Windows Updates, you will have to disable the Driver Helper Service again. NVidia sneaks in there and turns that service back on again even if it is on disabled! Curse them!
[This message was edited by igotout on August 28, 2003 at 22:58.]
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Raf
I didn't get a chance to implement any of this great advice yesterday. I'm figuring first I'll get someone to tranlsate it into English for me.
:)-->
But I appreciate the advice and I'll let you know how it goes when I get to it.
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igotout
Only takes a few minutes.
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igotout
Any results yet Rafael?
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Flay Minion
I would keep the Zone Alarm. If you have accidentally installed any adware or spyware or malware that tries to call home it will stop it. If you have a newer version or the newer pro version it doesn't add that much time. My XP starts in about 45 seconds with Norton Antivirus and Zone Alarm Pro but minimal processes or services other than that.
A list of services and what they do is here ~ http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm ~ be careful and back up the registry first before you tinker with any of those ~ and if you don't feel comfortable about it leave it alone or let an expert do it. I have about half of them disabled or set to manual and my machine is much faster without them. You can definitely live without the UPnP, for instance.
Windows messenger ~ not MSN messenger ~ likes to take up resources. If you don't use it at all and want to get rid of it forever ~ uninstalling it just hides it rather than gets rid of it ~ go to Start>Run and cut and paste this line in:
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%infmsmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
I always tell people to run AdAware and Spybot if they have been installing things off the internet. It's not highly likely but they often find things that slowed their start time down that they didn't know they had.
More hints here:
http://www.tweakxp.com/performance_tweaks.aspx
They include something about the indexing service as well. Other things too.
Shut up, minion.
Okay.
If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it
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igotout
Thanks for those tips, Flay. I have a few of my own opinions to follow if I may.
Do not disable UPnP if you are on a network or if you are sharing printers.
It does not take and expert to mess with Services because they can be turned on and off at will. But it may take an expert to mess with the Registry.
I do NOT recommend uninstalling a Service. Why do that? If it is stopped and on disabled or manual it is ineffective anyway, not working.
I do not recommend setting a service to disabled except with probelmatic ones like Nvidia Driver helper service and Messenger. If you set a Service on disabled it will NEVER start. Yet you might need that Service some day for another application or change of your environment. If it is turned off but on MANUAL it is like saying it is on stanby and ready if it is ever needed again.
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Raf
You know, once I got the AIM turned off, startup has been a lot easier. I kept Zone Alarm, but I haven't even revisited this thread to implement some of these neat ideas. I'll try a few tonight.
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igotout
Just turning off AIM from starting up when the computer starts should not have had very much of an effect in boot up time unless you are on dial up. Are you using 56k dial up connection to the internet or are you on broadband always on connection?
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Raf
I'm not using a stopwatch, so I don't know for sure.
I use broadband.
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Zixar
You can safely disable UPnP--and should--even if you do have network printers. Universal Plug-N-Play is a big open door to hackers and should not have been implemented this way.
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
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Raf
I'll do that tonight (I just got into work).
I disabled Messenger (I think) but I couldn't find that other program, the NVidia one.
I also changed the monitor refresh rate, although I can't imagine what that does.
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Steve!
You might not have the NVidia help driver loaded, that's perfectly acceptable.
The refresh rate is how fast your screen repaints itself.
What happens is that your screen gets repainted one line at a time. The higher the frequency, the faster it gets repainted. 74 hertz means that your screen gets repainted 74 times per second.
If you have a real slow refresh rate, then you will see your screen sort of "blinking" - not really blinking, but not a clear, steady picture, either.
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Raf
What happens when the refresh rate is too fast?
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